Chapter 414
Chapter 414
Chapter 414 He Swears a Solemn Oath
“Give me the second half of The Collection of Fragrant Clothes.” Cecelia needed to retrieve what belonged to the Songo Group, and she firmly believed that the original manuscript must be in Alfred’s possession. He had admitted it before, though he had used a replica to deceive her. Alfred had already expected Cecelia’s condition. At that moment, he sighed deeply. “Cecelia, I must tell you the truth. The original edition of The Collection of Fragrant Clothes is not in my possession. What you saw was just a replica and I only have a replica.” “Do you think I’ll believe you?” Cecelia scoffed. How cunning this old man was, didn’t she know? “Believe it or not, I truly don’t have it. When you asked me last time, I deceived you.” Alfred explained with great weight and depth. Cecelia stared at him for a long while before speaking coldly, “Uncle Grandpa, I hope you’ll answer me carefully. Otherwise, considering your age, what can you do even if you had half of the secret manual? Do you want to take the secret manual with you into the coffin?” “Sigh… I truly don’t have it, Cecelia! You’ve seen it yourself; I only have a replica. It was made by your great-grandmother while she was still alive. She created many replicas back then to confuse outsiders. Over the decades, the Songo family has had many thieves, but what they managed to steal was all fake. The real one was taken away by your great-grandmother. You should ask her!” Cecelia kept her gaze firmly on the old man, who was sweating under her scrutiny. In order to prove the truth of his words, he didn’t hesitate to swear a solemn oath. “Cecelia, if you don’t believe me, I can swear to the heavens. If what I said contains a single false word, let me be struck down by heaven and never find peace!” For a person to swear such a solemn oath indicated that what he said might actually be true.
Could it be that the second half of The Collection of Fragrant Clothes wasn’t really in the Songo family? Where could it have ended up? For the time being, Cecelia couldn’t figure it out and she couldn’t completely trust Alfred. She decided to put this matter aside. “All right! Since you’ve sworn, I’ll believe you this time. As for the secret manual, if you can’t produce it, I won’t bring it up anymore. However, you have to agree to one more condition.” “What is it?” Alfred raised his head and looked at Cecelia. As Cecelia was leaving the room, she stopped and said. “Tomorrow, you will come to the grave of my great-grandmother, Jessie, and kneel down to apologize!” Alfred was deeply shaken, opening his mouth but unable to say anything. Eventually, he dropped his arm in defeat. Cecelia left these words and directly left the study room. Adam was waiting outside and asked, “Sister, how did the conversation go? Did he agree?” “He had no choice! Let’s go visit Jesper.” Cecelia and Adam went to the West Garden, unlocked the door, and entered. Their loyal wolfhound, Puppy, was also very responsive. When it saw Cecelia, it ran over to greet her, wagging its tail non-stop. “Puppy!” Cecelia patted the wolfhound’s head and entered the house. “Jesper!” Hearing her call, Jesper walked out of the room. “It’s you, Cecelia!” “Jesper, I’ve come to take you out.” Cecelia took the old man’s hand, and Jesper looked a bit surprised. “Where are we going?” “First, we’ll take you to the barber to get a haircut, then you can take a nice bath, and after that, we’ll go to the hospital for a health check.” Cecelia had made arrangements, planning to take Jesper out first to have his health checked. “Um, that would be too much trouble.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.
Jesper didn’t want to leave the West Garden, and Cecelia could tell. She whispered a few words in his ear to explain the situation. Jesper looked at the young man in front of him in surprise and asked, “You mean he’s your younger brother?” “Yes, Jesper. He is my twin brother. You can call him Kevin.” After Cecelia’s introduction, Adam greeted Jesper with a smile and said, “Jesper, let’s go. Today, I’ll accompany you. First, we’ll get a haircut.” “Oh, okay.” Jesper didn’t refuse. He was pleased to learn that Cassie’s other grandson was still alive. And so, Cecelia and Adam took Jesper out of the Songo family. After several decades, Jesper had finally left the West Garden and the Songo family. He looked at the dramatic changes outside and felt both bewildered and nostalgic. He didn’t know what he could do after leaving the West Garden. It felt like there was nothing he could do. Cecelia and Adam took Jesper to a high-end salon. Jesper listened in confusion and asked, “Can they still kill dragons in this shop? What kind of dragon are they killing?” Jesper’s words successfully amused Cecelia and Adam. “Hahaha, Jesper, it’s not about killing dragons. It means a barbershop.” Adam explained with a smile, then took Jesper inside and had the barber give him a haircut. When the hairdresser saw Jesper, they thought he looked like a primitive man from a cave or a long- time wanderer due to his long hair and beard. After the hairdresser’s work was done and Jesper’s hair was cut, and his beard shaved, he appeared before the siblings. Both of them were surprised by the transformation. “Goodness, Jesper has changed so much. Now you look like a retired senior official.” Adam commented. “Yes, I also agree.”
Cecelia believed that Jesper must have been an upright man in his youth, and although he had aged, there was still a sense of righteousness in his face. After the haircut, Adam suggested that Jesper should take a bath at a male bathhouse. After a bath, and with clean new clothes, Jesper looked even more like a retired senior official. “Is this still me? I can hardly recognize myself!” Jesper hadn’t seen himself for many years, so he had forgotten what he looked like. Cecelia complimented him. “Jesper, you have the look of a long and healthy life. You’ll surely live to a ripe old age.” “I dare not think about it…” Jesper laughed and shook his head. He never thought he would live to such an old age. Afterward, the siblings took Jesper to the hospital for a full-body checkup. The results revealed that, apart from being slightly malnourished and deficient in calcium, Jesper had no major health issues. The doctor prescribed some calcium supplements, and the siblings left him outside the Songo family for the time being. Cecelia personally cooked dinner and accompanied Jesper to eat together. Jesper had been a lonely old man for most of his life, and in his twilight years, the fact that his great- grandson and great-granddaughter had come to show filial respect touched him deeply. He couldn’t help but shed tears of emotion. He shared many stories from the past during dinner, and the siblings listened with fascination. As they listened to the old man’s descriptions, the picture of the past Songo family became more vivid and complete in their minds. After Jesper had settled down for the night, the siblings left and returned to the Songo family. It was already quite late. In the quiet late night, Cecelia and Adam, both dressed in night attire, began their operation.